Posted: 9/27/2015 4:12 PM
Post subject: Timeline/History of console-TAS-playback idea, executions?
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eternaljwh
Joined: 3/11/2008
Posts: 583
Location: USA
In which hardware-playback is suggested "again"(Aug 2006) In which it was suggested that one feed input through the controller port (Jan 2008) My own post (quoting above) (Aug 2008) [should probably be moved to TAS Laboratory] In which one was built, that could not find earlier posts, yet did not reach playable state (Sep-Nov 2009) In which programmable controller extension to full TAS was mentioned (Feb 2010) In which SMB was verified (Jul 2010, the verification thread, obviously!) I've tried several other searches (among them "console verification", tasbot [returns AI results instead], console playback) but not hit on any others. Obviously my own post made it easier for me to find what I found. Is anyone aware of earlier musings on this topic, or where? Similarly, when were each other console's TASbots first completed? [fakeedit: went through for obvious topics that are already in TAS Lab; have to go to airport now]
Posted: 9/27/2015 8:12 PM
Post subject: robot memories
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True
Editor, Player (68)
Joined: 1/18/2008
Posts: 663
Wow, thanks for the memories :) I tried building my first robot while basically homeless and dealing with near death experiences regularly. Interesting times. I've learned a lot since then. There have been discussions for a long time... I think they started more seriously when I was showing progress on my PIC-based NES robot. micro500 was working on his Arduino bot but wasn't really talking about it publicly (or at least here?). He started his robot after I started mine but finished it and got it working properly first. One common theme after NES Mario was verified were doubts that other more complex NES games would and could not be verified, both due to poor emulation and inconsistent console startup state. The first game I worked on other than Mario was Duck Tales and this was one of those games. But I verified it and continued to verify other supposedly "difficult" games after that. Later the SNES robots were built. I think GhostSonic was the first one to do this, or if not at least the first one that got 2P support working. It also had very restricted / finicky multitap which was fixed output and not really to specs. Might find this in either the SMW thread or in the Console Verification thread. Not bad for being on a full breadboard. But by this time I was already working on my next generation robot that would support full 8-player multitap and do it (somewhat) within specs, without all the discrete components. This was the robot used for NES / SNES at AGDQ. Between then and now micro500 made a Propeller-based N64 robot which was shown at AGDQ. notaz has made a working Genesis robot (although the Genesis itself will have issues with sync and it isn't true verification yet) - you can find those posts in the Console Verification thread. endrift made a working GBA GBP robot that was shown at SGDQ. I've made a robot that has very flexible hardware and currently does NES/SNES, has SMS/Genesis in progress, and will also eventually do GB/GBA and N64 - just need time to write code. A robot currently being made now is micro500's DS bot. I think this is FPGA based with a Prop controlling it. I am considering doing a similar bot but porting it to run on a $4 PSoC prototyping board. I am in the planning stages of my next generation multi-console robot which will probably use a PSoC5 MCU (has built-in PLDs) and possibly an external CPLD or FPGA. This will finally realize the idea of having a robot perform to the exact spec of an official controller...although in practice it doesn't matter much :) It may also simplify firmware.
true on twitch - lsnes windows builds 20230425 - the date this site is buried